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Portland after dark

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By karen Hofreiter

Summer, with its sun dresses and short-sleeve T-shirts, is just around the bend. For most of us, this means

it’s time to tone those winter-white limbs. But if sweating it out on the treadmill like a hamster on a wheel is as appealing as an iceberg-lettuce diet, dread not. It’s possible to get a sizzling workout as tantalizing as a spicy chicken curry (sans calories). Best of all, it doesn’t require spandex or sacrific-ing your lunch hour. This miraculous rem-edy? Dancing.

If you’re conjuring thoughts of nerve-jostling techno beats, epileptic lighting, and sticky neon blue shots and thinking No thanks, then relax. This is not the dancing of your teenage youth (although it can be

just as sweaty and exhilarating). A multitude of studios, venues, and groups around Portland offers op-portunities to swing, tango, and fox-trot an evening away, with contagious music and adult liba-tions. Two left feet? No problem–

Salsa dancing storms into Congress Square Park in May with lessons by PM

Salsa. Below: Salsa meets metropole at Pearl

on Fore Street.

Dance celebrates the hidden quarters of our city.

DanceLet’s

In Portland, dancing has always been a guilty pleasure. We’ve even punished people for it. On

May 1, 1788, after a mass spinning bee (attended by over 100 ladies in finest attire), “an agreeable variety

of excellent pieces in psalmody” was performed at Par-son Deane’s house. Gentlemen were about, taking in the musical performance and more. There certainly should have been dancing. The floor vibrated. Looks were ex-changed, and blushes. There was a rumor of tapping toes. But “Dancing was not allowed, as we may learn from the indictment, on record in 1766, against Nathaniel Deer-ing and his wife, John Walte and his wife, and others

of the first families, for dancing in a private apartment of Freeman’s tavern. The King’s attorney, David Wyer, argued the case. They were acquitted on the grounds that it was a very private hop, and not a public dance or

ball,” according to A History of New Eng-land, 1881.

Footloose, 1788

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Portland after dark

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many evenings include a pre-social lesson. Single? Not to worry–partners are not re-quired. Not sure it counts as a real workout? Think again–faster dances like swing and salsa can burn up to 500 calories an hour.

Beginners will feel particularly welcome at the Social Dance Parties hosted by Ball-room Dance Portland (Avant Dance and Event Center, 865 Spring Street, Westbrook, 756-5427. They meet on the second and last Fridays of the month, with lessons at 7:15 p.m. before dancing from 8-10:30 p.m.; vis-it ballroomdanceportland.com). Owner Po-lina Kirillova and Kristin Sutton of Avant Dance and Event Center make certain ev-eryone feels comfortable and has fun.

“Participants can come with or without a

partner,” says Kirillova. “Our teachers are happy to dance with everyone and teach basic steps if someone is complete-ly new to dancing. We do mixers and line dances throughout the evening, which creates a nice, friendly atmosphere, and we play a variety of music, from current hits to oldies and everything in between. This means people get to try out many different dance styles.”

The adjacent lounge is the perfect place to catch your breath and refresh with a cold cocktail. Don’t miss the spring-themed party April 29th. “We’ll wear flow-ery dresses and play some spring tunes. It makes for a perfect date night!”

For those looking for some kick-up-your-heels, high-energy fun (super-swingy skirts and tailored vests wel-

come), Portland Swing Project’s STOMP nights (Wednesday lessons at 7 p.m. are fol-lowed by dance 7:30-9 p.m. at Acoustic Ar-tisans, 594 Congress Street, Portland; Friday lessons are at 7:30 p.m., with dance 8-10 p.m. at Maine Ballroom, 614 Congress Street,

Portland. See portlandswingproject.com for schedule) guarantee to get the heart racing with toe-tapping live and DJ music from the Roaring Twenties to today.

For a sultry, steamy evening of hip-swinging and attitude, check out the Lat-in dances also held at Avant Dance and Event Center in Westbrook (avantmaine.com, third Saturday of the month, 8 p.m.-midnight) with a one-hour pre-dance lesson and cash bar.

Those wanting to satisfy a worked-up ap-petite should head to Salvage BBQ for an

early mainers knew how to strut their stuff. to eavesdrop on the exquisite penobscot pine needle Dance, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoBqgKe9bl8.

old skool

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Private Lessons

Group Classes

Social Dances

Competition Training

Maine’s Premier Dance Studio

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evening of anything from tango to zydeco rhythms and a side of outrageously good barbecue (919 Congress Street, Portland, April 8, 8:30-11:30 p.m.–see emmaholder.com for schedule). If you find yourself get-ting hooked on “Havana nights” (a very real possibility), there’s more to be found at Port Tango’s Milonga dances (see porttango.com for monthly calendar).

The next Port Tango dance is April 16 at Mayo Street Arts (10 Mayo Street, Portland; mayostreetarts.org). Take a lesson at 8:15 p.m., and then dance until midnight. n

Other spots around Portland offering social dances

include Maplewood Dance Center (383 Warren Ave-

nue, Portland, 878-0584, Saturday evenings, www.

maplewooddancecenter.com for details); Aquarius Ballroom Dance Studios (62B Forest Avenue, Portland,

671-7644, Saturday dance parties; www.aquariusball-

roomdance.com); Bright Star World Dance (108 High

St., Portland, 370-5830; brightstarworlddance.com);

Hustle and Flow Studio (155 Brackett St., Portland,

632-4789; hustleflow.com); and the Maine page of the

online listing called HaveToDance.com/danceme.